"I think alot of people do it just to identify the person, when there are so many of
the same name."
Regardless of the reasoning, it is incorrect to cite a name that is incorrect. All one
has to do is Google "Joseph Coles Carpenter" to see how many people pass it
along as established fact with no annotation to note that the middle name is his
mother's maiden name as alleged, misinforming people and diverting research that could
uncover his actual identity. Why not just state that his mother was an Arnold (or
whatever the surname)?
Terry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Carpenter"
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 4:05 PM
Subject: Re: [CARPENTER] More NY Carpenters on NEHGS website
GeneZub(a)aol.com wrote: << His parents: Joseph Arnold
Carpenter (1635 to 1683) and Hannah Bennett Carpenter
(3 Apr 1640 to 1670) >>
A few of those who post ancestral data online inappropriately
give each of their subjects a middle name by inserting the
maiden name of that person's mother. Middle names were
almost nonexistent in the 17th century, however, and didn't
become popular until the 19th. The Joseph Carpenter
mentioned above, son of William1 and Elizabeth (Arnold)
Carpenter of Pawtuxet (Providence), had no middle name. ...
Excellent observation -- and exactly the same applies to the
"Joseph Coles Carpenter" who is so frequently cited as having
lived at the Big Bend of Jackson's, Virginia in the 1700s. That
Joseph Carpenter had no middle name, and his mother's
maiden surname has not been proved, so using that incorrect
appellation perpetuates two errors.